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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchBitcoin transaction types usually means the script templates used by transaction outputs—not different kinds of bitcoin or different payment purposes. An output’s script sets the conditions for spending it later. This guide explains the common types, how SegWit and Taproot change the way spending data is represented, and what address formats can tell you.
What does “Bitcoin transaction type” mean?
A Bitcoin transaction consumes earlier outputs as inputs and creates new outputs. Each output has a scriptPubKey that defines the conditions a future transaction must satisfy to spend it. When that output is spent, the required authorization data is provided in a scriptSig, witness data, or both, depending on the output’s construction. The Bitcoin Developer Guide describes common script forms and their spending workflows: Bitcoin Developer Guide: Transactions.
So “type” most usefully describes an output or a way of constructing a spend. One transaction can have multiple inputs and outputs, and those outputs may use different script types. The label does not by itself say whether the transaction is a payment, a transfer between a user’s own wallets, or another activity.
What are the main Bitcoin output types?
| Type | What the output commits to | How a later spend satisfies it | Common mainnet address cue |
|---|---|---|---|
| P2PKH | A hash of a public key | The spender supplies a signature and the public key. | Often starts with 1 |
| P2SH | A hash of a redeem script | The spender supplies the redeem script and data that satisfies it. | Often starts with 3 |
| P2WPKH | A public-key hash in a native SegWit version 0 witness program | Authorization is carried using witness data. | Often starts with bc1q |
| P2WSH | A witness-script hash in a native SegWit version 0 witness program | The spend supplies witness data satisfying the script. | Often starts with bc1q |
| P2SH-wrapped SegWit | A P2SH commitment wrapping a SegWit witness program | The outer P2SH construction and the wrapped witness program are both part of the spend arrangement. | Often starts with 3 |
| P2TR (Taproot) | A Taproot output key in a native SegWit version 1, 32-byte witness program | It can be spent by key path or script path. | Often starts with bc1p |
These prefixes are recognition aids for common mainnet address encodings, not a complete description of an output script or a safety check. Address encoding rules differ by witness version: BIP 350 specifies Bech32 for witness version 0 and Bech32m for version 1 and later.
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P2PKH: Pay to Public Key Hash
P2PKH is a legacy form that commits to a hash of a public key. To spend the output, the spender provides a signature and the corresponding public key. It is one of the common pubkey-script forms described in the Bitcoin Developer Guide.
P2SH: Pay to Script Hash
P2SH commits to the hash of a redeem script rather than directly to a public-key hash. The redeem script is supplied when the output is spent, along with data that satisfies its conditions. Multisignature arrangements are a common use, but P2SH can wrap other valid scripts as well. A P2SH output therefore does not necessarily mean that multiple people must sign.
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P2WPKH and P2WSH: native SegWit version 0
P2WPKH commits to a public-key hash; P2WSH commits to a witness-script hash. Both are native Segregated Witness (SegWit) version 0 output forms, and their authorization data is carried in the transaction’s witness serialization. The address cue bc1q is shared by these version 0 forms, so the prefix alone does not distinguish them.
P2SH-wrapped SegWit
A SegWit witness program can be wrapped in P2SH. This is not the same output construction as native SegWit, even when the eventual spending conditions are related. The distinction matters for compatibility: the address form signals a P2SH wrapper, while the underlying spend uses a witness program.
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P2TR: Taproot
Taproot is a native SegWit version 1 output with a 32-byte witness program. BIP 341 defines two spending paths: a key-path spend and a script-path spend. A script-path spend reveals the script and a control block in the witness; a key-path spend does not reveal a script-path condition.
Other script forms
Bitcoin Core’s reference also includes pubkey, multisig, and null-data output forms alongside pubkeyhash and scripthash: Bitcoin Core reference. Null-data outputs carry data and are provably unspendable, so they are not ordinary payment outputs. Pubkey and multisig are additional script forms; they should not be confused with a transaction purpose.
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What does SegWit change about a transaction?
SegWit separates witness data from the traditional transaction serialization. For transactions that carry witness data, Bitcoin defines two identifiers: txid, based on the traditional serialization, and wtxid, based on the witness serialization. They are different identifiers and should not be used interchangeably for a witness-bearing transaction. This separation is specified in BIP 141.
As BIP 141 puts it: “The entirety of the transaction’s effects are determined by output consumption (spends) and new output creation.” The practical point is that transaction effects come from which outputs are spent and which new outputs are created, while witness data provides authorization information in SegWit transactions.
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How do the types differ in practice?
- What is committed to: P2PKH commits to a public-key hash; P2SH to a redeem-script hash; P2WPKH and P2WSH use version 0 witness programs for a key hash or script hash; Taproot uses an output key.
- Where spend data goes: Legacy constructions use
scriptSig; SegWit forms use witness data, and wrapped forms combine a P2SH outer construction with a witness program. The exact arrangement depends on the output type. - What becomes visible when spent: A P2SH spend reveals its redeem script. Taproot supports a key path as well as a script path, with the latter revealing script-path data.
- Compatibility: Legacy Base58 address forms and native witness encodings are different formats. Sending and receiving software must support the relevant form; an address prefix is a clue, not a guarantee that a particular wallet or service will accept it.
- Fees and serialization: SegWit changes transaction serialization by separating witness data. The appropriate output form depends on the intended spending conditions and software compatibility; there is no universally best type.
How can you recognize a type from an address?
For common mainnet formats, an address beginning with 1 commonly indicates P2PKH, 3 commonly indicates P2SH, bc1q indicates a witness version 0 encoding, and bc1p indicates a witness version 1 encoding used for Taproot. These cues narrow down the encoding, but they do not fully describe the locking script or establish that an address is valid for a particular network or compatible with a receiving service. Bech32 and Bech32m are specified by BIP 350.
Which type should a sender use?
There is no single best type for every transaction. The choice depends on the conditions the recipient intends to use, whether both sides’ software support the address form, and the relevant transaction serialization and fee details. A sender should use the address supplied for the intended recipient and avoid inferring spending rules solely from its prefix. The types describe output construction—not distinct bitcoin and not distinct payment purposes.
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